In the afternoon, it looked as though it might rain on the otherwise perfect setting along the river Elbe. But in the end the approximately 100 people who attended the event enjoyed a spectacular view over Hamburg as the clouds disappeared just in time for the sunset. “I hope you’re not too distracted by this beautiful view,” VOX’s managing director Frank Hoffmann cheerfully greeted his guests. “Because I think we have some highlights lined up as well.”
Burn Notice
Said highlights include US series, new documentary programmes, docu-soaps and the big new TV event X Factor. But first Hoffmann provided a quick review of the past year. “We are on track for a record year,” said Hoffmann. “In the first five months, we scored 7.8 per cent of the 14- to 49-year-old market – a higher share than ever before.” US series like Lie to me – which was the season’s most-watched new US series in Germany last season – as well as The Closer, CSI: New York, Criminal Intent, Burn Notice and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played a big part in the channel’s success. All of them will be back with new episodes next season. And Vox has several new series in its line-up as well: Law & Order: United Kingdom, The Strip and Leverage. The channel has added a number of new formats to its afternoon programming, including the crime series Law & Order, the family series Heartland and Packed to the Rafters, and the two sitcoms Rita rockt and ‘til Death.
The Vox team
Vox will continue to devote Saturday evenings to its popular four-hour documentary programmes. “No one else in the world does this,” beamed Hoffmann. Topics covered on Saturday evenings include “The Miracle Of The Solar System,” “The Anatomy of (Running) Amok“ and “John F. Kennedy.” There will also be an entire day of programming devoted to “Water” featuring special editions of popular Vox programmes and the Oscar-Award winning film Die Bucht (The Cove). Not much will change in the channel’s docu-soap line-up. The familiar TV chefs will be back, as well Daniela Katzenberger, Konny Reimann and Klausi & Detlef of the gardening show Ab ins Beet. Martin Baudrexel, one of the three chefs, explains: “Overall, our programme is designed much like a reportage feature – after all, we want the pictures to tell a story.” Mario Kotaska adds: “Yes, we’re now doing a bit more follow-up, and are visiting the restaurants after some time has passed in order to see whether they’re putting our advice into action.” New docu-soaps for the upcoming season are Auswanderer sucht Frau (Expatriate Wants A Wife), Ab in die Ruine (Off Into The Ruins) and Unser erstes Restaurant (Our First Restaurant).
“Thursday is movie day on Vox,” said Frank Hoffmann. “We have quite a few highlights coming up again this year.” Though many of the films are not German premieres, “lots of people specifically watch the films they already know and love,” reasoned the channel boss. Highlights of the upcoming season include The Devil Wears Prada, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Queen, and the two Tomb Raider films.
But the undisputed and absolute highlight of the upcoming season on Vox is X Factor. RTL Television will begin by showing the first two episodes – on 20 and 21 August at 20:15, after which the remaining episodes and live shows will be shown on Vox starting on 24 August at 20:15. “We have countless talents that haven’t appeared in any other talent show to date,” jury member George Glueck told Backstage. “I think the candidates first informed themselves in detail about what kind of show X Factor is, and then auditioned.” His fellow judge Till Brönner is similarly delighted with the candidates’ potential: “I often ask the candidates the same question I ask my students: Do you really want this? You need a lot of perseverance in this business, and many of them obviously possess it.” As the sunset ebbed slowly from view, Glueck closed with an auspicious metaphor: “I hope that we will see the candidates’ transformation from inconspicuous caterpillar to beautiful butterfly.”